Bag-holder.



' G.L.LYON

BAG HOLDER.

APPLIOATION FILED APR. 16.1908.

91 4,057. Patented Mar. 2, 1909.

1n: NORRIS PETERS co., wAsr-lmarmv, v. c

uni

GEORGE L. LYON, OF BAINBRIDGE, NEW YOR THIRD TO IRA B. CUSHMAN, OF BAINBRIDGE, NEW

WEST, OF ONEONTA, NEW YORK.

K, ASSIG'NOR OF ONE-THIRD TO HIMSELF, ONE- YORK, AND ONE-THIRD TO FOSTER BAG-HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 2, 1909.

Application filed April 16, 1908. Serial No. @27325.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE L. lawn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bainbridge, in the county of Chenango and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Bag-Holders, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a bag holder, that is, a device for yieldingly supporting or holding up a canvas or other flexible bag in a mill, country store or other place while the same is being filled with merchandise such as flour, grain or feed so as to make it unnecessary for an attendant or clerk to hold up the same by hand, and the object of my invention is to provide a strong simple device for this purpose and one with Which the mouth of the bag is readily connected or disconnected.

In carrying out my invention and in combination with a platform and hopper, I employ a particularly constructed standard and yielding slidable spring controlled device movable on the standard and to which a hopper is secured with prongs around the base of the hopper to which the bag is connected previous to filling and by which it is held in an upright position. These prongs penetrate and help to support the bag and make unnecessary any tying strings ormanual assistance in supporting the bag while it is being filled.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a vertical section, Fig. 2 a rear elevation and Fig. 3 a plan representing the device of my improvement.

or represents a platform and b sockets advantageously formed therewith, the said platform and sockets being preferably of cast metal. The standard is preferably an inverted U-shaped member I) of one or more pieces. It may be a bent rod or tube, the

free ends of which are passed into the sockets and held firmly therein in any desired manner.

0 represents a hopper shown in the drawing as of rectangular form in plan and flaring form in section, with spaced apart prongs c projecting outwardly from the base of the hopper.

I employ the strap members (i 6 each similarly bent as shown, with the free ends perforated so as to receive through the perforations the parts of the standard I), and f is a metal strip connecting the strap members (1 6 together at their lower portion and above this metal strip f the strap members are secured in a parallel position by rivets or solder, or both, to an inclined side of the hopper; they being centrally spaced apart and in width agreeing with the distance apart of the standard members I).

A helical spring his employed and one loop end 2 of the same passes over the bent upper end of the inverted U-shaped standard I) while the other loop end 3 is engaged with the metal strip f through an opening therein.

t represents the dotted line of the bag supported in position around the hopper. I have shown in the drawing a prong c on each side of the hopper and two prongs on the rear side toward the standard, and in the use of the bag holder an attendant opening the mouth of the bag brings the edge up over the two prongs at the back of the hopper and the opposite parts at the sides of the hopper over the prongs projecting therefrom and these prongs enter and pass readily through the flexible material of the bag so as to support the same.

I have not shown but may prefer to employ one or more prongs at the front part of the hopper although the same are hardly necessary. The bag shown by dotted lines almost touches the platform but the device of my invention is adapted to bags of difierent lengths and in this respect its yielding characteristic is available because if the bag is shorter than the normally high position of the hopper, it will of course hang from the prongs but the first quantity of merchandise passed into the bag through the hopper will probably cause the hopper and bag to de scend against the power of the spring until the bottom of the bag strikes the platform; the spring being put under tension. This tension while the bottom of the bag rests on the platform will hold up the flexible part and permit the bag to be readily and quickly filled through the hopper. Of course if the bag is long enough for the lower end to touch the platform while the bag is empty, the structure still performs its function of holding up or supporting the bag and taking out the slack while the merchandise is filled into the bag through the hopper, thus the device of my invention provides for bags of different lengths which are commonly met with in trade, for while the structure is made for the maximum length of bags, the shorter bag will simply pull-the hopper downas it is filled and any of the bags will maintain their vertical position.

I claim as my invention 1. In a bag holder, the combination with a standard having two upright members, a hopper and means for supporting a bag of flexible material from the hopper, of a pair of strap members arranged parallel, bent alike and secured to the hopper and with the free ends perforated and receiving the members of the standard and thus movable upon the standard, a tension spring for supporting the hopper and. strap members from the standard, the same connected at oneend to the standard and a connecting member between the other end of the spring and the said strapv members.

2. In a bag holder the combination with a standard having two upright members, a hopper and meansfor supporting a bag of flexible material from the hopper, of a pair of strap members arranged parallel,, bent alike and secured to the hopper and with the free ends perforated and receiving the members of the standard and thus movable upon the standard, a barextending across between and at its end secured to the strapmembers, and a helical spring at one end connected to this cross-barand at the otherend secured to the top of the standard for supporting the hopper and strap members.

3. The combination with a platform having sockets, of a standard comprising a bent inverted U -shaped member with the free ends 5 passed into the sockets and secured, a hopper, strap members secured to the hopper and spaced apart to agree in position with the members of the standard andvhaving apertured ends receiving the members of the standard, and a helical spring secured. at one end to the upper end of the standard,-a metal strip extending across between and securedto the strapmembers and towhich-the other,

and lower end of said spring is secured, and 

